heart-racing images of the terrifying close call. american s engine caught fire. reporter: for the first time, we see the american airlines flight moving down the runway for takeoff, a burst of smoke, and then fire. do you see any smoke or fire? yeah, off the right wing. reporter: inside the plane, complete chaos and panic. we thought it was going to blow up, the plane. reporter: the pilot a takeoff. 161 passengers scrambling to find exits. passengers evacuating down emergency slides. some thrown to the ground by the engine s thrust. and our first look at the emergency response unfolding. firefighters dousing the plane. now we got it. right there. reporter: investigators looking at whether this fractured fan disc pierced the fuel line. resulting in that inferno. the ntsb investigation is still under way.
leland: all s well that ends well. at newark airport in new jersey back opened now after a minor emergency on tuesday. a757 was preparing to take off from san francisco when air traffic controllers of spotted fire from one of its engines. the passengers and crew evacuated the plane by the emergency slides. it sometimes happens. a couple were injured. would you like to hear that radio call? we were on fire. jenna: i m curious where it came from air traffic control and not the pilot. leland: or imagine being a passenger and looking out the window and seeing the plane on fire. jenna: as you mention, all s well that ends well. leland: any flight that lance is a good flight. jenna: also that ends well including this hour. look at that, the theme continues. we ll see you back here in an hour. outnumbered starts right now.
wings are what s on fire, then that s really not a place you want to be. to make matters worse, the aisle in back of them is blocked. the woman right behind us, she was just indicating to my husband the overhead above his head, and he reaches up there and pulls out a pair of crutches. her husband had a broken leg. so he pulled it down. we just thought, oh, no. i turned back, and already the entire plane was almost empty in the front. finally, they managed to reach the emergency slides at the front of the cabin. the slide, it s sort of slippery so you go down really fast. if the plane wasn t on fire, that would have been really, really fun. the carusos are some of the last passengers to get out. seconds later, the plane explodes. whoa! it was loud.
wings are what s on fire, then that s really not a place you want to be. to make matters worse, the aisle in back of them is blocked. the woman right behind us, she was just indicating to my husband the overhead above his head, and he reaches up there and pulls out a pair of crutches. her husband had a broken leg. so he pulled it down. we just thought, oh, no. i turned back, and already the entire plane was almost empty in the front. finally, they managed to reach the emergency slides at the front of the cabin. the slide, it s sort of slippery so you go down really fast. if the plane wasn t on fire, that would have been really, really fun. the carusos are some of the last passengers to get out. seconds later, the plane explodes. whoa! it was loud. it was big. the entire center part of the plane where the caruso family had been only seconds earlier is
to others escaping on the emergency slides. many don t know whether their loved ones are still inside. firefighters pour water on the burning airplane but fail to get the blaze under control. the plane continue to burn for ten minutes until a massive explosion erupts in the midsection and the plane is left to burn itself out. russian officials believe an engine malfunction is the cause of the fire. three people are killed, but the death toll could have been much higher had this tragedy occurred after the airplane had left the ground. a terrible explosion could mean the end of a career for a young race car driver. july 30th, 2009. it s saturday, and in iowa that means sprint car racing at knoxville raceway.